Safety appliance.



H, HOWE.

SAFETY APPLIANCE.

ATION FILED Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

1" Illll I wit/ H HI pn'irnn PATET @FFltlF.

SAFETY APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 19916..

Application filed May 29, 1916. Serial N0. 100,657.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARRY HOWE, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Rock ford, in the county of Winnebago and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Appliances, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a guard or safety appliance designed to serve as a warning to one approaching a dangerous passage or about to descend a flight of stairs, and furthermore, as a mean for obstructing the passage to prevent one from accidentally or unconsciously walking into the passage or stairway and being injured as a consequence of the act. Accidents of this character are 'of frequent occurrence, and especially so when one is moving about in a building in which he is not familiar with the passages, elevator shafts, etc, or in which the passage ways and stairs are not well lighted. Under such circumstances a person unduly cautious may walk into an open shaft or stairway and be seriously injured.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a simple means for preventing accidents of the character described, which means consists of a guard element extending crosswise at the entrance of a dangerous passage to serve as a warning and an obstruction to one about to enter the passage. This guard is mounted in a novel manner so as to be easily movable out of its operative position to allow free passage to one leaving the dangerous passage way or ascending a-flight of stairs and to be also easily moved out of operative position by one approaching the passage way or stairs, but movable in the latter instance in a manner requiring the attention of the passer so that he is fully aware and cautioned of the passage way he is about to enter.

Another object of my invention is to provide a guard of the character described in the form of a simple attachment that may be easily applied and which is so designed as to be capable of production at a com paratively low cost.

Referring to the drawings in which I have illustrated one practical embodiment of my invention, Figure l is a perspective view showing one of my improved guards in operative position at the head of a stairway; Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the guard; Fig. 3 is a side view thereof with a portion of the supporting bracket in section; and Fig. 4 is an end view of the guard.

My improved guard comprises, generally stated, a guard element adapted to extend crosswise of a passage about waist high of a person of average height and to be pivotally supported at one end in such manner as to be prevented from swinging horizontally from guarding position in the direction of the danger but to be freely swung on its pivot upwardly and in a horizontal direction away from the danger side of the passage. The guard element is also so mounted that when raised or swung to inoperative position, it will automatically drop to operative position upon being released. A guard of this character serves as a permanent obstruction at the approach of a dangerous passage way and will require a passers attention to raise the guard when passing in the direction of the danger, but when passing in the opposite direction the guard may be swung freely out of the way by merely bearing against the same .and moving the guard aside as the person passes.

The guard or safety appliance, the construction of which will be presently fully described may be attached to any suitable support so as to extend across and obstruct the passage way leading to the danger. For instance, the guard may be attached to a side wall or post at the head of a stairway or to a similar stationary support at the side of the entrance to an elevator shaft or any other gateway or passage leading to a probable source of danger, and in the case of a wide passage way a guard may be mounted at each side thereof.

In the present instance, I have shown the guard structure mounted on a supporting bracket designated generally. by reference character 5, which in turn is suitably secured to a wall at the side of a passage at the top of a stairway, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1. The guard element which may be in the form of a pipe section 6 is pivotally secured at one end to the supporting bracket 5 in a manner to permit of a universal pivotal movement. A simple pivotal connection of this character is provided by forming the .lower end of the bracket 5 with a laterally projecting eye 7 with which is engaged an eye formed integral with a cap 9 which is screwed onto an end of the pipe 6. By means of this pivotal means of attachment the guard element may be swung both 'matically drop to normal position.

into and out of operative position as will be presently apparent. It will, of course, be obvious that various means may be employed fol-pivotally connecting the guard element to the supporting member so that the guard may be swung in the manner desired.

The guard element is maintained in operative guarding position, that is, in a horizontal position extending crosswise of the passage by a supporting means mounted on the bracket 5 and providing a rest for the guard member at a point distant from its pivotal point of attachment to the bracket 5. This guardsupporting and guiding means may be in the form of a rod bent intermediate its ends to form a rest 11 and thence to form upwardly diverging and inclined guides 12 and 18, the ends 14 of which are turned inwardly and downwardly and are fixedly secured to the bracket 5 as shown clearly in the drawings. It will be noted that the portion of the guide 12 adjacent to the rest 11 is shaped to provide a stop 15 which prevents the guard from swinging on its pivot toward the stairway. The guard may be raised above the stop 15 when one'desires to descend. the steps, and in order to pass the guard the same must be swung upwardly out of the way. Thenatural and easiest manner for one to swing the rod out of the way isto move the guard upwardly and forwardly, since the guard is moved in the same direction in which the person is moving. The guard in being thus moved travels along the guide 12 and when the passer has got beyond the guard, the same upon being released, will drop, guided along the rail 12 to normal position. Should the passer be going in the opposite direction, that is, ascending the stairs, the guard may be simply pushed. upwardly and forwardly out of the way, although in fact, it may be simply brushed aside by the person moving past the guard since the guide 13 is shaped so as to permit of free and easy movement of the guard out of the way. It will be obvious that upon being released the guard will e guard thus servesas a fixed obstruction in the passage way to one approaching a stairway or the like, and in order togain the stairway the guard must be positively lifted above the stop 15. On the other hand, when one is passing in the opposite direction it is not necessary to actually take hold of or operate the guard in any particular manner, since the same may be simply brushed aside and freely swung out of the way.

When it is desired for any purpose to hold theguard in raised inoperative position the guard may be pressed between the spring clips 16 secured to the top of the bracket 5,

or any suitable means may be employed for holding the guard in this position.

It is believed that the foregoing conveys a clear understanding of my invention and provides a guard or safety appliance that 1 will effectively serve the purposes prefaced above. Referring again, however, to the manner in which the guard and guide means therefor are mounted or attached, it should be understood that my invention contemplates the use of any desirable or suitable form of bracket or other means for mounting the guard and guide means, since circumstances require that these elements be at tached t'o fiat surfaces, round and square posts, hand rails and various other supports located at the passage way.

It should be further understood that various changes in the form and details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention or sacrificing any of its material advantages.

I claim 1. The combination with a stationary supporting element positioned at one side of a passage, a guard element extending transversely of the passage and pivotally conneeted at one end to said supporting element, and means attached to said supporting 7 element for holding the guard in operative position and for guiding it in its pivotal movement to inoperative position comprising a series of spaced guide faces converging downwardly from said supporting element and providing a rest at the juncture of said faces to receive the guard at a point distant from its pivotal support, said faces being shaped to prevent the guard from swinging horizontally on its pivot in one direction while seated on said rest in operative position but enabling it to swing in said direction upon being raised an appreciable distance from the rest and permitting the guard to also swing horizontally in the opposite direction to an inoperative position.

2. A passage guard of the character described comprising a bracket adapted to be supported at one side of a passage and equipped with guides converging downwardly into the passage, and a guard member pivotally mounted on said bracket intermediate said guides and normally resting on the same at the juncture or lowermost point thereof, so as to extend laterally across said passage, one of said guides having a vertically disposed stop portion at said lowermost point whereby .to preclude horizontal swinging movement of the guard along this guide until after the guard has been raised above the said stop, whereby the guard when swung to raised position, guided along either of said guides will upon being released, automatieally return to normal position.

3. A passage guard of the character described eomprising a guard element pivotally secured at one end to a stationary support at one side of the passage and adapted to extend horizontally across the same, and means providing arest for the guard at a point distant from its pivotal support to hold the guard in its horizontally disposed or operative position, said means being shaped to provide opposed guiding surfaces diverging upwardly from said rest and also to provide a stop at the base of one of said guiding surfaces whereby to prevent the guard from swinging horizontally toward said stop, the guard being movable in said direc tion after being raised above the stop, whereby when the guard is swung horizontally and upwardly in either direction guided by either of said surfaces, the guard will upon being released be guided to its lower or horizontal position.

4. A passage guard of the character described comprising a guard element pivotally connected at one end to a fixed support at one side of a passage and capable of a universal swinging movement on its pivotal mounting, and means on which the guard element rests at a point distant from its pivotal support so as to be held in a horizontally disposed position, said means including the stop preventing the guard element from swinging horizontally in one direction and including upwardly diverging guide surfaces one of which commences at said rest and the other at the top of said stop, whereby the guard element may be freely swung upwardly and horizontally guided along the first mentioned guide surface but in order to be swung horizontally and upwardly in the opposite direction it must be raised above the said stop.

HARRY HOWE.

flopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, JD. '3. 

